KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah is optimistic about tourist arrivals despite the recent kidnapping incident in Sandakan.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said one of the measures proposed by the state government is the use of attack helicopters to guard the coastline.
“We have to bear in mind that Sabah is a huge state with long coastline. The use of attack helicopters by the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) will help deter possible intruders.
“Nevertheless, we are positive that we can achieve the same tourist arrivals as last year, which is 3.2 million people, if not more. Last year’s arrival was reduced from 3.38 million in 2013 due to several factors including the MH370 accident.
“Our approach is to be as honest and update tourists of any development through our website, among others. You’d be surprised to find out that people’s perception is not as bad as we think. I just came back from Wuhan, China to promote our tourism products and I learned that the people there are very receptive to the idea of coming here,” he said after the launch of GST Navigator for Travel Industry by the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) earlier.
Last week, two locals were kidnapped by a group of armed men at a seaside restaurant in Sandakan.
It was reported that the Defence Ministry had planned for the acquisition of the attack helicopters in safeguarding the Esszone which covers vast land area of 31,158 sq km and coastline of 1,733 km from Kudat to Tawau.